WASHINGTON — Mike Knuble may not have thought much about his return to Washington if it weren’t for the pre-game press meeting he had to oversee. Not surprisingly, Knuble was a popular player for three seasons in Washington, finishing up his stay here in the playoffs last spring.

During the lockout, knowing he wasn’t going to be offered a contract to return to the Caps, the 40-year-old Knuble hooked up for a tryout with the Detroit Red Wings. The plan, as he pointed out again Friday, was to play with the Red Wings’ AHL affiliate in Grand Rapids, Mich. for “two, three or even four weeks, until (NHL) teams figured out what they needed.”

While Knuble did spend a week-long training camp with the real Red Wings before being demoted, he pointed out that since he lives in Grand Rapids, “I didn’t lose much sleep over that. I just trusted things would fall into place.”

But at 40, Knuble made it clear to himself that a return to the NHL wasn’t a sure thing. He told himself to limit his options.

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“I don’t think I would have just gone anywhere,” Knuble said. “I wasn’t going to be chasing it. There were a few teams I probably would have considered.”

Naturally, the Red Wings were one of those teams. So were the Flyers, the club he’d played with for four seasons prior to going to Washington. Instead of weeks, Knuble’s minor league stay at his hometown Grand Rapids team was one game until a Scott Hartnell injury prompted Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren to give Knuble a call.

Entering Friday night’s game with the Caps, Knuble had one assist in three games with the Flyers. He started on a third line at Verizon Center with center Brayden Schenn and rookie winger Tye McGinn.

While he admits his conditioning is still a work in progress, Knuble said, “I’m getting a good chance. Peter (Laviolette) is giving me some good responsibilities and hopefully I can rise to it.”

The first meeting of this short season between the Flyers and Capitals carried a bit of a surprise, in that the two teams were respectively bringing up the rear in the Atlantic and Southeast divisions. The Caps’ 1-5-1 start was the worst in the league. Acknowledging he was surprised at that, Knuble added, “I’m surprised we’re just a step better, you know?

“Everybody’s coming out of the gate differently. It’s a tough year,” Knuble said. “It’s very unpredictable for GMs and for staff to gauge their teams, coming out of a (six-day) training camp, and you’re right into the games. And now you have to see what your team’s lacking and what your team needs. It’s basically trial by fire in the middle of the games. Now the GMs have to assess (their teams) in games that count. You’re literally keeping your fingers crossed with how you’re going to come out of the gate. But the bottom line is that there’s still 40-some games left. Both teams have time to get things going. We’re not that far out.”

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While Knuble certainly was a welcome addition for a Flyers team missing Hartnell and general offensive consistency, he probably would have fit in better on his most recent former team. The Capitals have been missing productive winger Brooks Laich, who suffered a groin injury while playing in Europe during the lockout. As for scoring support for Alex Ovechkin, who had but two goals and an assist in his first seven games, the Caps’ best option is winger Joel Ward, who had four goals and six points.

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For the first time since their training camp of sorts, the Flyers had two full days of practice to iron out some of their major-league sized wrinkles.

They were hoping that would pay dividends beginning with the Caps game.

“It felt great,” Laviolette said. “I don’t think enough can be said about quality practices. Players put a lot into it, so I think that’s a positive. There hasn’t been a lot of time (for that).”

Follow Rob Parent on Twitter @ReluctantSE.

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